The Day of the Draw at Hogwarts

The end of exams symbolizes the end of the semester. At the end of the day, everyone fell into a state of coexistence of busyness and idleness.

Students gathered together to go to Hogsmeade for vacation. They wanted to go shopping before going home and empty out all the pocket money they had saved during the semester. The professors are working overtime to correct the test papers, trying to summarize the transcripts in the shortest possible time.

Especially Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, the two of them are simply inwardly involved. Because they don't want to be labeled as a hindrance by the other party.

Not only the professors, but also Mr. Dumbledore, the principal of Hogwarts, is also very busy. After his long talk with Tom that night, his life suddenly became busy. There were more letters sent from the Ministry of Magic, and there were more things to deal with. Everything seemed to be back to the way it was when Fudge just took over.

Today he was going to visit an important guest with Minister Bones of the Ministry of Magic. This guest was once a popular candidate for the Minister of Magic and still holds a pivotal position in the Ministry of Magic.

He is Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic.

Dumbledore and Bones arrived outside Barty Crouch's mansion. Looking at the magnificent and elegant door of the mansion, Bones couldn't help but sigh: "It's the old pure-blood families like them that are rich! Just... This Zhuangzi can sell tens of thousands of gold galleons."

For an upstart wizard, taking over a manor from an established family is much more comfortable than finding a new place to live. The orderly inheritance of wizard manors ensures safety and concealment, and the surrounding Muggles are accustomed to their presence, making it an excellent place to live.

After Voldemort came back, he even used Malfoy Manor as his base camp. Coincidentally, the Order of the Phoenix also chose the Black family as its base. These are all because the Wizard Manor has its own unique advantages.

Therefore, the Wizard Manor is very easy to cash out. But no pure-blood family would sell their ancestral home.

Knocking twice on the door, the door opened, and a house elf appeared from behind the door. She was wrapped in a tea towel and had a pair of long, bat-like ears like other house elves.

"Hello, distinguished sir and madam," the elf asked in a sharp voice, "may I ask why you two are here?"

Dumbledore spoke. He leaned down and said kindly: "I am Albus Dumbledore, and I am here to visit Mr. Barty Crouch with the current Minister of Magic."

He and Bones had chosen their time very cleverly, as Crouch happened to be at home at this time.

"Who is it?" There was a sound of footsteps behind the door, "Winky, get out of the way -" The next person appeared in front of Dumbledore.

When Crouch returned home, he did not continue to wear the wizard's robe, but changed into a black nightgown, but his short gray hair still remained untidy.

"Mr. Dumbledore? Minister Bones?" Crouch had a hint of surprise in his eyes. He didn't understand why these two people suddenly came to his house.

"Excuse me," Dumbledore said with a smile, "I'm here for the big event next year... Can the two of us go in and sit down?"

One is recognized as the strongest wizard in the magical world, and the other is the current Minister of Magic. There is no way Barty Crouch can keep the two of them out. So he could only step aside and order his elf to make tea.

"Every time I go to the Ministry of Magic, I make a lot of noise. It's really troublesome for a centenarian..." Dumbledore explained to Crouch as he walked into Crouch's mansion. "I hope you don't mind..."

The reason was sound, and Crouch believed it.

"Of course not. This is a very important business matter. Please come here - can we go to the study to talk?"

He took the initiative to lead the two of them to his study. At this time, a house elf named Winky appeared at the door carrying a tray with a teapot, three teacups and a plate of cookies.

"Go, prepare dinner, make it richer!" Crouch ordered.

"No, no need," Dumbledore waved his hands repeatedly, "Just to discuss the general matters, we can do the details - oh, butter cookies, that's great..."

Dumbledore became very interested in cookies, which made Minister Bones next to him look helpless.

After tasting Crouch's cookies, Dumbledore was full of praise for them. After the third cookie was eaten, and Crouch and Bones were both a little impatient, he started to talk about business.

"I have some ideas about the project content for next year's Triwizard Tournament..."

…

The three of them had a heated discussion, which lasted for several hours.

"Okay, I think that's about it for today." Dumbledore stood up from his seat, "I think you young people are definitely better at the details than me - the content of these three projects. , or I got the inspiration from a young friend.”

"What a brilliant idea. This Triwizard Tournament will definitely go down in history." Crouch forced a smile on his face. He was very satisfied with the idea given by Dumbledore.

He glanced at the clock on the wall, "Has it actually reached this hour? No, I must stay here for you two to have a meal——"

At this time, there was a strange noise in the corridor.

Dumbledore and Bones both looked up.

"Winky is a clumsy guy," Crouch frowned, "always in a hurry——"

"But isn't Winky cooking in the kitchen?" Dumbledore looked indifferent, "Let's go and have a look. Maybe some magical animal has entered your house by mistake. It came from nowhere when I was a child. If a fire-ash snake passes by, it would be a disaster..."

As he spoke, he walked towards the source of the noise, completely ignoring Crouch's obstruction. Seeing Dumbledore's determined look, Crouch's face turned pale, without even a trace of blood remaining.

When Dumbledore pushed the door open, Crouch leaned against the wall as if his bones had been ripped out.

If an ordinary wizard discovered this secret, Crouch would definitely use the Forgetting Curse to solve the problem, but now the wizard opposite is Dumbledore...

Barty Crouch doesn't believe the nonsense that "Dumbledore is old and confused". He believes that he has no power to fight back in front of Dumbledore.

He could only accept his fate.

————

Today I received a new batch of supplies from the community, including two kilograms of flour, some seasonings, toilet paper, and garbage bags. It's good. I didn't receive the same materials from the "3-15" party like people in other communities.